DOWNEY – The Long Beach Press-Telegram has released its annual Dream Team selections for girls’ soccer.
Several Warren Bears were selected to the First and Second Team Dream Team. Downey and Paramount both had players selected to the Second Team as well as Honorable Mention recognition.

Warren had two players selected to the First Team Dream Team. Senior Sarah McGarry and junior Estela Sanchez were given that honor. No other San Gabriel Valley League player was selected to the First Team Dream Team.

Warren was the 2015 S.G.V.L. champion and McGarry and Sanchez were two big reasons why. Downey had previously owned the S.G.V.L. for the past decade.

Warren had one player selected to the Second Team Dream Team. Junior Jennifer Cortez was given that honor. Cross-town rival Downey had two players selected to the Second Team Dream Team. Seniors Idalis Gonzalez and Zaira Hernandez were given that honor. Paramount senior Yaqualin Garcia was also selected to the Second Team Dream Team.

Warren did not have a player receive Honorable Mention recognition. Downey seniors Nicole Flores and Charlotte Chavarria received Honorable Mention recognition as did Paramount junior Giovanna Recinos.

Warren will look to defend their S.G.V.L. title in 2016. Several underclassmen will return with more experience, skill and a league championship under their belts.

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The Downey High School girls’ lacrosse team currently has an overall record of 6-2 and are 2-0 in Ocean League play.

Downey does not compete in the San Gabriel Valley League for girls lacrosse due to other schools not having teams to compete. Therefore, Downey competes against Santa Monica, Culver City, Beverly Hills and Marlborough in the Ocean League.

The Lady Vikings were defeated by Newport Harbor at Newport Harbor 14-4 on 3/5, defeated El Dorado at Downey 5-2 on 3/7, defeated Santa Monica at Downey 15-5 on 3/10 and were defeated by Palos Verdes Peninsula at Palos Verdes Peninsula 15-7 on 3/12.

Downey defeated Westridge at Westridge 10-4 on 3/13, defeated Dana Hills at Downey 7-6 on 3/14, defeated Beverly Hills at Downey 12-2 on 3/25 and defeated Tustin at Downey 18-12 on 3/27. The Lady Vikings are currently on a four game winning streak.

Downey traveled to Culver City to face the Lady Centaurs on 4/8 (score unavailable at press time). Culver City is currently 7-4 and 0-1 in Ocean League play. The Lady Vikings will travel to Marlborough on 4/14, will host El Segundo on 4/15 and will travel to Beverly Hills on 4/17. Downey is extremely busy in the month of April. The Lady Vikings are scheduled to play 10 games from April 1st through the 29th.

Coach Mires, his staff and players will certainly find out how good they are in the upcoming weeks. The C.I.F. playoffs are just around the corner in May.

This year’s team is led by a mixture of seniors and underclassmen. Seniors Mike Kim, Preston Medina, Nick Apodaca, Frankie Gonzalez, Christian Gomez and Danny Benitez have led the way. Juniors Tadeo Marquez, Tim Nilan and Gerardo Flores have also played key roles. Sophomores Marcus Powell and John Choi have added balance and depth to an already talented team.

Several boys have already qualified for C.I.F. and are looking forward to improving their individual times in the upcoming meets. Downey will host cross-town rival Warren on 4/16, will swim against Paramount on 4/23, will host Gahr on 4/30 and will host S.G.V.L. prelims and finals on 5/5 and 5/7, respectively.

Downey has had a busy preseason schedule in preparation for league competition. Coach Delhousay likes the balance this team has and maintains that “this is the strongest team I’ve had in eight years.” Downey has won the S.G.V.L. title three years in a row and were 13-0 last season. It will be interesting to see if the Vikings can swim even faster than they did last year.

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The D.U.S.D. middle school sport’s year will conclude its 2014-15 five sport schedule with track and field.

Dual meets will start on Wednesday, May 13, when Doty and Sussman will compete at Downey High School and Griffiths and Stauffer will compete at Warren High School.

On May 20, Stauffer will compete against Sussman at Downey High School and Doty will compete against Griffiths at Warren High School.

The last dual meet competition on Wednesday, May 27, will feature Sussman competing against Griffiths at Downey High School and Doty competing against Stauffer at Warren High School.

The All-City track meet will be held Friday, June 5, at Downey High School starting at 4 p.m. The Doty Knights won all six boy and girl grade level competitions last year in the return of middle school sports.

This year’s competition will once again be highly competitive and exciting to watch. The middle school with the most overall team championships will lay claim to the traveling trophy which will stay at the winning school site for the next year.